Container cap

ABSTRACT

An integral captive cap structure has a closure lid connected to the body by an axially short thick hinge element containing the hinge axis about which the lid is pivoted to closed position over the body, a frictional lock being provided between the closed lid and body. Cooperating parts on the closed structure adapt it to fit a chuck or clutch of a conventional container capping machine.

United States atent [1 1 Miles et al.

CONTAINER CAP Inventors: Gilbert Dewayne Miles, Ossining;

Russell Park McGhie, Somers, both of NY.

Colgate-Palmolive Company, New York, NY.

Filed: Nov. 18, 1971 Appl, No.: 199,859

Assignee:

U.S. Cl 222/517, 222/498, 222/543, 220/35, 220/31 S, 222/562 Int. ClB67d 3/00 Field of Search 222/543, 544, 556, 222/562, 517, 498; 220/35,31 S References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1964 Wise et a1. 222/543 XPrimary Examiner-Samuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-Joseph J. RollaAttorney-William A. Strauch et al.

[57] ABSTRACT An integral captive cap structure has a closure lidconnected to the body by an axially short thick hinge element containingthe hinge axis about which the lid is pivoted to closed position overthe body, a frictional lock being provided between the closed lid andbody. Cooperating parts on the closed structure adapt it to, fit a chuckor clutch of a conventional container capping machine.

6 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENIEDJIJIIZS ms mm m 2 IHL FIG. I

I3 I I2 FIG. 2

IN VENTORS GILBERT DE WAYNE MILES RUSSELL PARK MC GHIE PAIENIEDJms ms w"w w L FIG BY (M TTORNE S INVENTORS GILBERT DE WAYNE MILES RUSSELL PARKMCGHIE CONTAINER CAP This invention relates to cap structure forcontainers and particularly to cap structure of the so-called captivecap type wherein one annular part is adapted to be secured upon thedispensing end of the container and another closure part is attachedthereto by a flexible hinge that provides for repeated opening andclosing operations.

In its preferred embodiment the invention will be de-' scribed as anintegral cap structure for mounting on the discharge nozzle of aflexible walled toothpaste or like container tube.

Captive caps for containers and tubes have been proposed. For example,such are disclosed in U.S. patents to Tupper U.S. Pat. No. 2,690,861;Lohrer U.S. Pat. No. 2,894,654 and Fanning U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,688. Itis also known to provide unitary flexible hinges between parts of moldedplastic containers as exemplified by U.S. patents to Wolf U.S. Pat. No.3,289,877 and Koleske U.S. Pat. No. 3,516,115.

The present invention contemplates a unitary captive cap of novelstructure that provides an improved flexible hinge connection betweenparts, more reliable closure action, and adaptation for installationupon the container in conventional automatic capping machinery, and thisis the major object of the invention.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel integralcontainer cap comprising an annular body part adapted to be threaded orotherwise fixed on a container neck or nozzle, and closure part or lidconnected to the body part by a relatively short, thick intermediatehinge structure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel integral captivecap structure for a container comprising an annular body part adapted tobe threaded or otherwise fixed on a container neck or nozzle, and aflexibly hinged closure part that in the closed position has speciallocking engagement with the body parts.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel integral captivecap structure for a container consisting of an annular body adapted tobe threaded orotherwise fixed to the container neck or nozzle and aflexibly connected hinged closure, with certain hinge elements and aclosure tab being so disposed as to adapt the cap structure to fit'withthe chuck orclu'tch of a conventional capping machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing a capstructure according to a preferred embodiment of the invention mountedat the dispensing end of a conventional threaded dispensing nozzletoothpaste or like tube;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the one-piece plastic cap structure of FIG.1;

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The cap structure 11 is intended primarily formounting upon a flexible walled toothpaste or like container tube 12.This tube may be the threaded neck type shown in FIG. 4, or it may havea plain or corrugated neck on which the body of the cap is force fitted.

Cap structure 1 1 is integral and essentially consists of a body 13adapted to be installed in fixed relation on the tube neck and closurelid 14 swingable about a flexible hinge.

The hinge consists of an intermediate relatively short thick hingeportion joining the body and lid at an effective pivot axis, andlaterally outwardly spaced resilient hinge loops that control movementand location of the lid as will appear.

The cap structure is formed by molding an organic synthetic plasticmaterial such as polypropylene which is suitably inert with respect tothe contents of the tube and has a modulus of elasticity sufficient topermit necessary repeated opening and closing during its useful life.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, body 13 is of hollow open ended annular formhaving an internal thread 15 adapted for mounting the cap structure onthe threaded hollow discharge nozzle 16 of tube 12. When the body 13 isturned until the upper edge 17 of tube neck 16 abuts a downwardly facingannular shoulder 18 in the body, the cap structure is fixedly securedupon tube 12. Body 13 may be longitudinally corrugated at 19 for turningit to a tight position.

The upper end of body 13 has an annular planar surface 21 disposed atright angles to the body axis. An axially short annular lip 22 risesfrom the plane of surface 21 to terminate in a flat annular edge 23parallel to surface 21. The outer periphery of lip 22 is preferablyconical, and interiorly lip 22 is formed with a reduced diameterdischarge orifice 24 disposed upwardly of a downwardly facing annularinternal ledge 25 having a rounded edge 26.

Lid 14 has a downwardly open recess 27 surrounded by a downwardlydiverging conical wall 28 that intersects a planar bottom surface 29disposed at right angles to the cap axis. The closed top wall 31 of thelid has a concave finger receiving recess 32 and the sides arelongitudinally corrugated at 33 for turning.

A hollow tubular projection 34 depends from wall 31 centrally withinrecess 27. The external diameter d at the tip 35 of projection 34 whichterminates about level with surface 29 is only slightly less than thediameter of body orifice 24 so that when the lid is closed as shown inFIG. 6 the tip of projection 34 will slide smoothly within lip 22.

Referring to FIG. 3 it will be seen that, while the major externalcircumference 36 of projection 34 lies in a cylinder of diameter d, aneccentric lip 37 is formed at one side having an outer surface 38 formedon the arc of a circle of radius r eccentric to the center of surface36. Surface 38 smoothly merges at opposite ends into surface 36. Lip 37projects sufficiently laterally of the tip of projection 34 that whenthe lid is closed as in FIG. 6 lip 37, as permitted by the flexibilityof the plastic composing the cap structure, cams about rounded edge 26and under ledge 25 to tightly lock the lid to the cap and form areliably held closure against discharge of the tube contents.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3-5, the body and lid are formed at the hingewith coextensive portions that project toward each other and are ofreduced cross section as they approach the effective hinge axis wherethey terminate in spaced thin parallel edges 42 and 43. These portionsof the body and lid are connected only by the intermediate centrallydisposed relatively short hinge element 41 that extends only a minordistance longitudinally of the space between said edges but is thickerthan the body or lid portions at said edges. As shown, element 41 issubstantially thickened at the effective pivot juncture indicated at 46in FIG. 4 by a portion 47 thereof being raised above the plane ofsurfaces 21 and 29. It has been found that this relatively short butthick hinge section between the body and lid provides a more reliableand longer lasting hinge than would be provided by continuing thereduced cross section portions of the body and lid toward each other tointegrally intersect along a longer thinner region extending the entirelength between them. The effective hinge axis is preferably parallel toedges 42 and 43 and it passes through element 41.

Integral hinge loops 40 are identical and of uniform rectangular crosssection and (FIG. 1) integrally connected at reduced section oppositeends to the body and lid respectively along thin effective pivotjunctures 51 and 52 that are parallel to but displaced from theeffective hinge axis through hinge element 41. Hinge loops 40 areequally spaced laterally from hinge element 41 and are parallel to eachother and lie in planes that intersect at right angles with theeffective pivot axis through hinge element 41. As the lid 14 is pivotedbetween the closed position of FIG. 1 and the open position of FIG. 3the ends 51 and 52 of the hinge loops will be spread apart at first sothat each hinge loop acts as a tension spring that initially tends toresist opening and bias the lid back toward closed position and thensnap over center to act to bias the lid toward open positionfiThereverse action takes place when the lid is closed. In the fully open andclosed positions of the lid, the hinge loops are substantially relaxedand not in ten- SIOI'I.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be noted that lid 14 is formed onthe side opposite its hinged connection to the body with a laterallyprojecting finger tab 55. In assembling the usual conventional threadedcap with a threaded neck tube, it is conventional practice to secure thecap upon the unfilled tube in known capping machinery wherein a chuck orclutch device grips the cap while the cap and tube are brought togetherand relatively rotated in threaded engagement.

It is an important feature of the present invention that the captive capstructure herein is so constructed and arranged as to fit with the chuckor clutch devices of conventional capping machines so that specialmachines are not required to handle it. This is accomplished accordingto the invention (FIG. 2) by providing an extended finger tab that hasat the outer edge an are 56 of a circle 57 that also intersects theouter corners 58 of the hinge loops 40 as shown in FIG. 2. Circle 57represents the entrance mouth of the chuck or clutch of the cappingmachine.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention beingindicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. Integral cap structure of synthetic plastic material for a containerof the type having a hollow product discharge neck comprising an annularbody adapted to be mounted in fixed position on said neck, a closure lidand flexible hinge means between said body and lid, said hinge meanscomprising a relatively short thick intermediate hinge element extendingbetween thinner adjacently substantially parallel edges of coextensivebody and lid portions, said element extending longitudinally only aminor distance along the space between said edges and the effectivehinge axis between said body and lid extending through said elementsubstantially parallel to said edges, and parallel flexible hinge loopsdisposed outwardly of the ends of said space having opposite endspivotally connected to the body and lid on aligned axes parallel to saideffective hinge axis.

2. Integral cap structure of synthetic plastic material for a containerof the type having a hollow product discharge neck comprising an annularbody adapted to be mounted in fixed position on said neck, a closure lidand flexible hinge means between said body and lid, said hinge meanscomprising an intermediate hinge element directly bridging adjacentportions of said body and lid with the effective hinge axis extendinglongitudinally through said element, parallel flexible hinge loopsdisposed outwardly of the ends of said element having opposite endspivotally connected to the body and lid on aligned axes parallel to saideffective hinge axis, a finger tab projecting outwardly from said lidopposite said hinge element and having an arcuate outer edge, said outeredge coinciding substantially with an are on the periphery of a circlehaving its center on the axis of said annular body and with itsperiphery intersecting the outer corners of said hinge loops in theclosed condition of the cap structure.

3. Integral cap structure of synthetic plastic material for a containerof the type having a hollow product discharge neck comprising an annularbody adapted to be mounted in fixed position on aid neck, a closure lidand flexible hinge means between said body and lid, said hinge meanscomprising an intermediate hinge element directly bridging adjacentportions of said body and lid with the effective hinge axis extendinglongitudinally through said element, parallel flexible hinge loopsdisposed outwardly of the ends of said element having opposite endspivotally connected to the body and lid on aligned axes parallel to saideffective hinge axis, said hinge means providing for pivotal movement ofsaid lid between an open position extending away from said body and aclosed position wherein it extends over said body, and cooperatingfrictionally engaged locking means on said body and lid for retainingsaid closed position.

4. The cap structure defined in claim 3, wherein said body has adischarge orifice in its upper end and said lid has a depending internaltubular projection adapted to slidably extend into said orifice in theclosed position of the lid, and said locking means comprises coactinglip and shoulder means engageable at said orifice.

5. The cap structure defined in claim 3, wherein said body has acircular discharge orifice at its upper end and a downwardly facingshoulder below said orifice, and said lid has a depending internalprojection the free end of which is smoothly slidable into said orificewhen the lid is closed, and said locking means comprises a lip 6projection eccentric to said lid porjection, the outer edge of 'said lipmerging circumferentially smoothly into the surface of said lipprojection.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Dated June 25,1973 Patent No. 741,447

lnventofls) Gilbert Dewayne Miles and Russell Park McGhie s in theabove-identified patent It is certified that error appear hown below:

and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as s Column 4, line41, change "aid" to said Column 6, line l, change "porj ection" toprojection Column 6, line 3, change "lip" to lid,

Signed and sealed this 27th day of November 1973.

(SEAL) Attest: EDWARD M. FLETCHER-,JR. I RENE D TEGTMEYER AttestingOfficer A Acting Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 60376-969 a 11.5.covzmmzm' PRINTING OFFICE: I969 0-366-334 FORM PO-1050(10-69)

1. Integral cap structure of synthetic plastic material for a containerof the type having a hollow product discharge neck comprising an annularbody adapted to be mounted in fixed position on said neck, a closure lidand flexible hinge means between said body and lid, said hinge meanscomprising a relatively short thick intermediate hinge element extendingbetween thinner adjacently substantially parallel edges of coextensivebody and lid portions, said element extending longitudinally only aminor distance along the space between said edges and the effectivehinge axis between said body and lid extending through said elementsubstantially parallel to said edges, and parallel flexible hinge loopsdisposed outwardly of the ends of said space having opposite endspivotally connected to the body and lid on aligned axes parallel to saideffective hinge axis.
 2. Integral cap structure of synthetic plasticmaterial for a container of the type having a hollow product dischargeneck comprising an annular body adapted to be mounted in fixed positionon said neck, a closure lid and flexible hinge means between said bodyand lid, said hinge means comprising an intermediate hinge elementdirectly bridging adjacent portions of said body and lid with theeffective hinge axis extending longitudinally through said element,parallel flexible hinge loops disposed outwardly of the ends of saidelement having opposite ends pivotally connected to the body and lid onaligned axes parallel to said effective hinge axis, a finger tabprojecting outwardly from said lid opposite said hinge element andhaving an arcuate outer edge, said outer edge coinciding substantiallywith an arc on the periphery of a circle having its center on the axisof said annular body and with its periphery intersecting the outercorners of said hinge loops in the closed condition of the capstructure.
 3. Integral cap structure of synthetic plastic material for acontainer of the type having a hollow product discharge neck comprisingan annular body adapted to be mounted in fixed position on aid neck, aclosure lid and flexible hinge means between said body and lid, saidhinge means comprising an intermediate hinge element directly bridgingadjacent portions of said body and lid with the effective hinge axisextending longitudinally through said element, parallel flexible hingeloops disposed outwardly of the ends of said element having oppositeends pivotally connected to the body and lid on aligned axes parallel tosaid effective hinge axis, said hinge means providing for pivotalmovement of said lid between an open position extending away from saidbody and a closed position wherein it extends over said body, andcooperating frictionally engaged locking means on said body and lid forretaining said closed position.
 4. The cap structure defined in claim 3,wherein said body has a discharge orifice in its upper end and said lidhas a depending internal tubular projection adapted to slidably extendinto said orifice in the closed position of the lid, and said lockingmeans comprises coacting lip and shoulder means engageable at saidorifice.
 5. The cap structure defined in claim 3, wherein said body hasa circular discharge orifice at its upper end and a downwardly facingshoulder below said orifice, and said lid has a depending internalprojection the free end of which is smoothly slidable into said orificewhen the lid is closed, and said locking means comprises a lipprojecting laterally of said projection end adapted to be forcibly movedthrough said orifice and to snap under said shoulder
 6. The capstructure defined in claim 5, wherein said lid projection is cylindricaland said lip is a part circular projection eccentric to said lidporjection, the outer edge of said lip merging circumferentiallysmoothly into the surface of said lip projection.